Search icon

News

15th Jun 2022

Boris Johnson’s ethics advisor Lord Geidt has resigned

Ava Evans

Very ethical of him

Lord Geidt has resigned as the prime minister’s independent advisor on ministers’ interests.

In a statement he said: “With regret, I feel that it is right that I am resigning from my post as Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests.”

He did not give a reason for his departure.

It comes after Lord Geidt was unable to deny accusations that he had considered resigning after the prime minister was fined for breaching lockdown rules by attending a party in Downing Street.

Appearing before a parliamentary select committee on Tuesday, he said: “Resignation is one of the rather blunt but few tools available to the adviser.”

Geidt is the second independent adviser to resign under Johnson. He follows Alex Allan, who quit after the prime minister ignored his finding that Priti Patel had bullied civil servants.

Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Angela Rayner MP, said his resignation showed Boris Johnson was no longer fit to govern.

“The Prime Minister has now driven both of his own handpicked ethics advisers to resign in despair. If even they can’t defend his conduct in office, how can anyone believe he is fit to govern?,” she said.

“Yet he remains propped up in office by a Conservative party that is mired in sleaze and totally unable to tackle the cost of living crisis facing the British people.

“The person who should be leaving Number Ten tonight is Boris Johnson himself. Just how long does the country have to wait before Tory MPs finally do the right thing?”

Related links: